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Shops on High Street in the City.

Hello David so you could buy a couple of things in a pound shop,i wonder what you could have bought for a penny in 1894.I am sure i remember someone telling me that one time in Woolworth there was nothing over 6d
 
"I believe that a good penny and sixpence store, run by a live Yankee, would be a sensation here."
— Frank Woolworth
 
I wonder if in years to come people will be posting pictures of the pound shops or as I recently saw in Bromsgrove the 90p shop!
Polly
 
That's a lovely site Mike,it was my mom i didn't say, and she said you could get pretty much anything there,i worked at Woolworths
it was my first job,thanks for that liz
 
The Co Op in the High St.also arranged funerals,here's one for my grandad.
Grandad died in sept.and I was born the following Dec. apparently, before he died, he had paid for a pram, for what would have been his first grandchild,but no one knew where it was being held till my birth,so,I never had a posh pram.
 
pmc1947 said:
These days as The High Street only runs from New St to Dale End, we tend to forget that it used to include to top end of the Bull Ring as Well.

High st started at Moor St and coming back the other way it finished at Bell St. So in fact The Old Market was on the High St.

All these shops on this photo were on High St. From Oswald Baileys to Times Furnishing. I remember all these especially Pimms pet shop and the Bull Ring Café.

Phil
Click to expand...

Hi Phil, just migrated to this site a bit late I'm afraid. In my youth before I left for proper work in 1960 I had a Saturday job at Bywaters the Pork Butchers (my mom was secretary to the MD) . I'm sure it was somewhere opposite this picture in a row of shops at the top end of the Bullring. I would love someone to confirm the location of this shop, and a picture would be incredible...

I used to lug big boxes of Pork Pies, chitlings and sausages around the very old smelly basement. I was too young or too ugly for front of house duties! When done I remember the thrill of walking up to Corporation St to that record shop where you listened to stuff in booths on the wall (next door to Harry Parkes'). Vividly recall buying 'I'm in Love Again' by Fats Domino and the Everley Brothers' Bye Bye Love' on the old 78's. What memories...
 
Hi Dennis

I think I just about recall Bywaters, it was on the corner of Swan Passage wasn't it? Sorry I have looked and I am unable to locate any photos, but someone else might turn one up.

Phil
 
Dennis

I've just been taking another look at my photos, this time I searched under High St instead of Bull Ring and I came up with these two. Although you can't make the shop out, it has to be among these few at the top of the Bull Ring.

Phil

CityHighSt2-1.jpg
CityHighStTopofBullRing1957.jpg
 
Dennis
In the 1956 Kellys the shops are :


here is New .it

89 Stevens' Bar
90 & 91 Burn Fred Ltd.tailors
92 Alexandre Ltd. tailors
here is Swan pass
93 Brown Geo. M. Ltd.house furnishers
94 Bywater M. & Co. Ltd.pork butchers
95 Stone J. & F. Lighting & Radio Ltd. radio supplies dlrs
96 Stylo Boot Co. Ltd, boot & shoemkrs. & dlrs
You can see which Bywaters were from this
Mike​


​
 
Dennis,

A photo of Swan Passage, or at least part of it, as you can see on the map it ran from Worcester St to the High St just by your old Bywaters Pork Butchers Shop.

Phil

Lost photo and map replaced by identical images
City High St Swan Passage.JPGmap c 1889 showing swan passage.jpg
 
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As usual Phil, you never let us down. Brilliant photo and map. I can almost see my old grandad sloping off for a quick'un in the back Bar....
 
pmc1947 I worked at Times Furnishings in the middle 60s. It was great fun. They used to have a tannoy system to call people to the telephone or put an advert over stating offers that might be available in the Carpet Department. On the 2nd floor was Willougbys the tailors where I bought my first brown suede coat (paid weekly) - very mod at the time. On the top floor was the canteen where there was always laughing going on. Gplan furniture was very popular at the time. We used to have one Saturday off and then the following week you have Saturday and Monday off. My ex husband (then my boyfriend) used to stand on the opposite corner waiting for me on the Saturday lunchtime when I was working and we used to go down to The Royal for a drink. The Head Office was in London. Great fun and excuse the pun - great times.
 
Hi Carolynn,

Do you know all the time that the Times building was there, I don't think I ever as much as entered the front doors. Strange that as I must have used all the shops around it. I suppose I purchased all my furniture closer to home.

Heres a photo that may help to recall a few memories.

Phil
Lost photo replaced
City High St Times Building.JPG
 
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Blimey Mo. You must be joking. Dad worked at Singers Motors on the Cov, and was always on strike. When he did have a few bob it went to the Richmond or the bookies Mom was a secretary. We never had a telly until everybody else had one. Parlour type Council House he bought for £600 in 1949. I think this must have been for a new three piece suite or the bedroom furniture? We had lino and distemper walls. Nothing fancy. No car until an old A40 appeared circa 1959. GOK what this was for. I will ask him and see if he can remember, but his memory's worse than mine now he's 88 and bit doolally. And who did you say you were?
 
A few more photos, set along the High Street at various times in its history.

Phil

CityHighSt7-1.jpg
CityHighSt11.jpg


CityHighStCoopScotlandPassage.jpg
CityHighStScotlandPassage.jpg


CityHighStUnionSt-Copy.jpg
 
It looks very much like an early dust cart to me, it's of a very similar construction.

Phil
 
Can't find a picture Phil, but here is a drawing from https://www.igg.org.uk/gansg/00-app1/water.htm ,which incidently is quite interesting, even though written by someone who is rather young (quote "Public toilets for men were often marked MEN up to the 1930s after which the usual marking was GENTLEMEN. Public toilets for women were (I believe) always marked LADIES. This changed in the 1990s, to MEN and WOMEN")

horse_drwn_dust_cart.JPG
 
A few more images of the High Street through the years, If you run your mouse over each photo it should display the date of the photo.

Phil

CityHighStc1975.jpg
CityHighStbyCastleSt1972.jpg


CityHighSt1938.jpg
CityHighSt1946.jpg
 
When my brother in law passed away we found an old white pound note inside a paper bag and on it was the name Henrys, well I'd never heard of it, but I presume that shop in your 3rd photo is the shop.
 
Another quite lengthy thread (from a photo point of view) that I have reinstated to the best of my ability. I really must apologise if I have put images in the wrong place or not in the right order, but I have tried my best to match them up to any comments that were made about them.

Phil
 
brillant to see these pic back on phil...


thank you for reposting them i know how it takes time....


lyn
 
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